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When the South Putnam boys basketball team hits the court later this year, they will do so with a new look as Josh Estridge was recently hired as the new coach.
Estridge inherits a team that went 11-11 last season under Kyle Swafford, and the 2006 graduate of Carmel High School is ready to hit the ground running after getting bitten by the coaching bug while attending IUPUI.
"While in college, I coached football, basketball, baseball and softball at the middle school level. I also coached girl's travel basketball in the Indy Magic program that is run by Justin Blanding. Through those experiences, basketball became the sport that I have the most passion for coaching," Estridge told The Putnam County Post.
Estridge cut his coaching teeth as a head basketball coach at Clay Middle School in Carmel in 2011 and after graduating from IUPUI in 2012, he began his teaching career at Plainfield High School, where he was a teacher and football and basketball coach.
"I coached football at Plainfield Community Middle School for most of my 10 years. I was an assistant coach at the high school level my last couple of years. Over my 10 years as a part of the Plainfield basketball program, I was the freshman and junior varsity coach. Coaching for and with current head basketball coach Andy Weaver and former head football coach Brian Woodard really helped guide me and get me prepared for my upcoming challenge," Estridge said.
He said there were a lot of things about the South Putnam job that made it a great fit for him.
"I would say the number one thing is the community's love for sports. I love that I get to be a part of a community that values their teams and wants them to be successful. Next, I would I would say the administration made this an easy decision for me. I felt a real connection with the people that were a part of the interviewing process. They are a very supportive group of people and I really look forward to working with them. I feel that we have inherited a team that has a lot of potential. It is a team that returns a lot of experience. We have a lot of multi sport athletes who want to win and want to compete. We are a team that is athletic and physically strong. We also have some young talent that creates some depth for our program as a whole," Estridge said.
When the season tips off, Estridge says fan can expect to see a team on the floor that will compete and a team that is going to play together and play the right way.
"We will be disciplined and will care more about the name on the front of the jersey more so than the name on the back. We will be a team the community of South Putnam High School will be proud of and want to support," he said.
As for offense, Estridge said the Eagles will control the tempo.
"We want to play fast and put pressure on the opposition. With that being said, we want to value each possession. We need to be a team that can do multiple things on offense and play multiple speeds. Moving the basketball and taking great shots is going to be a common theme with our team," he said.
And, on the defensive end, South Putnam looks to be a team that will be "tough and hard nosed."
"We want every shot the opposition takes to be contested and to be tough. A common key for our defense is to hold teams to one shot possessions. We will be physical, keep the ball out of the paint and be a team that wants to rebound. We want to be a team where our defense sets the tone for the game," Estridge said.
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